Automatic brake for wagons.



N o. 864,814. .PATENTED SEPT. 3, 1907. J. T. VANNBSS 6v H. R. OBRIAN.AUTOMATIC BRAKE POR WAGONS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9, 1906.`

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lNo. 864,814.

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Znness PATENTED SEPT. 3, 1907. J. 'l'. VANNBSS & H; R. OBRIAN. AUTOMATICBRAKE PUR WAGONS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9, 1906 Jam JZ A TTORNE ys 1HE NoRRls PETERS Co.,wAsHINcToN, D. c.-

NITED STATES JOHN T. VANNESS AND HARRY R. OBRIAN, OF OXFORD, OHIO.

AUTOMATIC BRAKE FOR WAGONS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 3, 1907'.

Application filed .Tune 9, 1906. Serial No. 321,059.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, .Toi-1N T. VANNEss and HARRY R. OBRIAN, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Oxford, in the county of Butler and Stateof Ohio, have invented a new and useful Automatic Brake for Wagons, ofiwhich the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to automatic brakes intended for use inconnection with horse-drawn vehicles, and it relates more particularlyto apparatus of this character in which the brake shoes normally tend tofrictionally engage the road wheels but are held out of engagementtherewith by the horses attached to the wagon.

The invention has for one of its objects to provide an automatic brakemechanism which can be readily applied to wagons already in use ormanufactured with wagons intended for the market, without involving anyi change in standard wagon construction.

A further object is to improve this class of apparatus, so that thebrake shoes will engage the wheel with considerable pressure, as whentraveling down hill, and4 can be disengaged by a considerably less powerrequired of the horses than operated to set the brakes.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the brakeshoes can be maintained in inoperative position7 or disengaged from thewheels, by the horses when the vehicle is backing.

A still further object is to equip the mechanism with a device wherebythe tension of the spring can be easily adjusted, or the entire brakemechanism rendered inoperative. j

With these and other objects in view, the invention comprises a simple,inexpensive construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter morefully described, and defined as to its novel features in the claimsappended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one. embodiment of theinvention, Figure 1 is a plan View of the running gear of a farm'wagonshowing the brake mechanism applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsection of the wagon, and Fig. 3 is a detail view of the device `forsetting the tension of the spring or rendering the brake mechanisminoperative.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated throughout bysimilar characters of reference.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the wagon to which thebrake mechanism is applied is of the usual standard construction,comprising road wheels 1, front and rear axles 2 and 3, respectively, acoupling pole or reach 4, a tongue 5, a doubletree draft rigging 6,hounds 7, and bolsters 8 for supporting the vehicle body. It is obviousthat any other vehicle construction may be employed, since the brakemechanism is adaptable for various kinds of wagons.

The brake shoes 9 are arranged at the ends of a trans- Verse beam 10located just in front of the rear wheelA v so that the brake shoes canengage the tires of the latter. 'lhe brake' carrying beam 10 may besupported from the running gears in any suitable manner, such as bychains 11, links or other devices affording a flexible mountingtherefor. The chains are attached to the ends of the cross bars 12secured to the front end of the brace frame 13 extending between therear axle and the coupling tongue, and are attached at their lower endsto the brake beam. Extending rearwardly from and attached to the centerof the brake beam is a helical extension spring 14 that is anchored atits rear end on the rear axle. The connection between the spring andrear axle is preferably of such a nature as to permit of the tension ofthe spring being readily adjusted. One form of connection comprises alever 15 fulcrumed on a clip 16 bolted to the rear axle, and carried bythe lever is an adjustable block 17 to which the spring is connected bya link 18. This block is mounted in a slot 19 disposed adjacent thefulcrum of the lever, and is slidable in the slot by means of a setscrew 20, clearly shown in Fig. 3. The normal positionof the lever isshown in Fig. l. It will be observed that the link 18 and spring 14 aredisposed in a line extending through the fulcrum of the lever and theblock 17. In other words, the parts are on a common center line, theblock 17 being located at the rear of the fulcrum 21 oi the lever. Thespring tends to maintain the lever in this position, but for the sake ofadditional security, a catch 22 is provided on the bottom of the axle toengage the free end of the lever and hold it xed. lf it is desired toadjustthe tension of the spring, the lever 15 is disengaged from thecatch 22 and rotated through 180, thereby throwing the block 17 aroundto the front side of the fulcrum, so that the spring and link are in amore or less slack condition. The set screw can then be adjusted withconsiderably less eifort. When the proper adjustment is made, the leveris again returned to its normal position, so as to restoreltension tothe spring.

That part of the mechanism which operates in opposition to the spring tomaintain the brake shoes in an inoperative position may be generallydescribed as follows. The doubletree 6 is mounted for a slight for* wardand backward movement in a clasp. 23 which is hinged at its rear end tothe rubbing plate 6 located under the doubletree and is bolted to therubbing plate at its front end.

the clasp and rubbing plate by means of a pin 24 extending through aslot 25 in the clasp and rubbing plate and through the doubletree,itself. Extending rearwardly from the doubletree are two cables, links,or other devices 26, connecting the outer ends of thel doubletree withthe outer ends of two transversely disposed levers 27 suitably fulcrumedon'the frontend of the coupling pole at a point slightly to the rear ofthe front axle. Extending from the levers are two The doubletree is heldbetween l intermediate cables, links, or other devices, 28, thatconverge toward each other and are coupled to the front end of a rearcable link, or other devices, 29, by

i means of a suitable coupling, indicated at 30. The

rear cable 29 connects at its rear end with the shoe carrying beam l0.By this arrangement, the shoes 9 are moved out of engagement with therear wheels when power is brought to bear by the horses on thedoubletree. ln order that the power required to move the brake shoesaway from the wheels may be multiplied, so that the effort on the partof the horses can be reduced to a considerable extent, the cables 28 areadapted to be connected with the levers 27 at points nearer to thefulcrums than are the points of connection between the levers and thefront cables 26. To

illustrate this point, let it be assumed that the spring exerts a pullof about 200 pounds, and, as the cables 28 are connected to the levers27 about one-third of their lengths from the fulcrum, the power requiredto overcome the spring, on the part of the horses, will be aboutsixty-six and two-thirds pounds, disregarding friction and other minorfactors. It will thus be seen that the brakes are very sensitive to apower tending to disengage them and hold them in disengaged position.

In order that the vehicle can be backed without the brake shoes offeringany impediment thereto, I make use of the upward movement of the tongue,or, more strictly, the downward movement of the hounds 74 caused by thehorses doing the backing of the wagon. For this purpose, a segmental bar30/ is mounted on the hounds at a point to the rear of the levers 27, asshown in Fig. l, with which cooperate vertical levers 3l fulcrumed onthe frame 32 that is bolted or otherwise secured to the coupling pole 4.The lower ends of the vertical levers 3l extend forwardly into the pathof the segmental bar 3W, so that when the latter is lowered during thebacking movement, it Wipes on the leversv and tilts the upper endsthereof in a forward direction. The upper ends of the vertical leversabut a cross bar 33 extending horizontally across the coupling pole andsupported in a floating position on the frame 32. The horizontal crossbar 33 is prevented from moving forwardly on the cables 28, on which itis mounted, by means of the collars or stops 34, more clearly shown inFig. l. By this arrangement, the forward tilting of the upper ends oflevers 31 imparts a forward movement to the cross bar 33 and through thestops 34, cables 28 and 29, the brake carrying bar is held in a forwardposition with the shoes 9 disengaged from the Wheels. It will thus beseen that the vehicle can be backed Without the brake shoes engaging therear wheel and opposing the backing movement. A

1t sometimes happens that when traveling down an incline with a greatload, the frictional engagement of the brake shoes with the wheels willnot be sufficient and it may be desirable to supplement the brakes byusing the horses, as in ordinary cases. It will be understood that whenthe horses assist to hold back a load when going down a hill, the frontend of the tongue, by reason of their being hitched thereto, is elevatedto a considerable height. This means that with my brake mechanism thesegmental bar 30 Would operate through the 'lever 31 to withdraw thebrake shoes from the be maximum. Therefore, it is necessary to providesome emergency device to render the said levers 31 inoperative. Onesimple manner of accomplishing this is to insert a bolt, pin, or otherdevice, 35, in front of the cross bar 33, so that the same cannot bemoved by the levers 31. At all other times, the pin 35 will not be used,and so that it may be always conveniently at hand, it can, withadvantage, be attached by a chain to the frame 32, or some otheradjacent part.

lt may be desirable, at times, to render the brake mechanisminoperative. This can be done by simply taking the tension out of thespring ll. To do this, the lever l5 is turned around on its fulcrum to aposition opposite to that shown, and is held in such position by asuitable catch 36.

While we have described a brake mechanism more especially adapted for adouble-horse wagon, it is obvious that the same can be readily appliedto a single horse-drawn wagon. It is to be noted that with theconstruction shown, the brake mechanism can be effectively controlledwhile turning to the right or left, since one of the horses will alwaysmaintain the cables 26 sufficiently taut to prevent the brakes frombeing set.

In order to permit the Wagon to be lengthened or shortened, in the usualmanner, without the brake mechanism interfering, suitable means isprovided in the latter for this purpose. As, for instance, the rear endof the cable 29 is adapted to be doubled over a roller 37, or equivalentdevice, on the brake beam l0, and the free end of the cable is securedby means of an adjustable coupling or fastening device 38, including aset screw 39. By this means, the cable 29 can `be shortened orlengthened to accommodate the changing ofthe length of the wagon.

We have described the principle of operation of the invention, togetherwith the apparatus which we now Iconsider to be the best embodimentthereof, but we desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown ismerely illustrative, and that various changes may be made, when desired,as are within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:-

1. In a brake mechanism, the combination with `a vehicle, of a brakebeam therefor, brake shoes, a draft device, means connected with thebrake beam for holding the shoes in contact with the wheels of thevehicle, a system of levers and connections between the draft device andbrake beam for multiplying the power exerted by the draft -device tomove said beam to inoperative position, and automatic means controlledby the draft device for rendering said system of levers and connectionsinoperative when backing the vehicle.

2. ln a brake mechanism, the combination with a vehicle comprisingrunning gears and a draft device, a brake beam, shoes thereon forAengaging the wheels of the vehicle, means tending; to hold lthe brakeshoes in an operative position, and a mechanism between the brake beamand draft device for holding the brake shoes in oft position when poweris exerted on the draft device for moving the vehicle in either aforward or reverse direction,

said mechanism comprising means connecting the draft` wheels just at thetime when the braking effect should l vehicle, means tending to hold thebrake Shoes in m 'segale bperative position, and a mechanism between thebrake beam and draft device for holding the brake shoes in off positionwhen power is exerted on the draft device for moving the vehicle ineither a forward or reverse direction, said mechanism comprising aconnection between the draft device and brake beam, a lever mounted onthe vehicle, means which is actuated with the tongue of the draft devicewhen the same is raised during the backing of the vehicle, and meansbetween the said connection and the lever whereby the lever operatesthrough the eennection to hold the brake beam in inoperative position.

4. In combination, a brake beam, a draft device, iiexible membersconnecting the two, a floating cross bar carried by the members, a leveradapted to engage the cross bar, and means for actuating the lever whenthe tongue of the draft device is moved in a vertical plane.

5. In combination, a brake beam, a draft device, mem bers flexiblyconnected with the beam and device, a cross bar carried by the members,a lever for engaging the cross bar, and a segmental member adapted toengage the lever when the tongue of the draft device is raised.

6. In combination, a brake beam, a draft device, members extendingrearwardly from the draft device, levers to which the rear ends of saidmembers are connected, two connecting members extending from the leversto the brake beam and adjustably connected to the said levers, and amechanism engaging the latter connecting members for holding the brakebeam in oif position during the backing of the vehicle.

7. ln combination, a brake beam, a draft device, mem'- bers extendingrearwardly from the draft device, levers to which the rear ends of saidmembers are connected, two connecting members extending from the leversto the brake beam, a mechanism engaging the latter connecting membersfor holding the brake beam in olf position during the backingof thevehicle, said mechanism being operated by the vertical movement of thetongue on the draft device.

8. In combination, a draft device including a tongue, a coupling' pole,a` brake beam, levers pivoted on said couplingl pole, connectionsextending from the levers respectively to the draft device and brake`beam, a frame on the coupling pole, levers mounted on the frame,connections between the levers and the connections extending from thefirst levers to the brake beam, and means on the draft device actuatedby the said tongue for operating the second levers.

0. In combination, a draft device including a tongue, a brake beam, aspring tending to draw the beams toward the wheels of the vehicle,connections between the brake beam and drat't device, a pair ofvertically extending levers adapted to engage said connections forholding the beams away from the wheels, and means for actuating thelevers during the vertical movement of the said tongue during thebacking of the vehicle.

10. In combination, a draft device including a tongue, a

coupling pole, a brake beam, horizontal levers pivoted on the couplingpole, members connecting the levers respectively with the draft deviceand brake beam, vertically disposed levers pivoted on the coupling pole,connections between the levers last mentioned and certain of saidmembers for holding the brake beam in olli position, and means foractuating the vertical levers by the movement of the tongue.

11. In combination, a draft device including a tongue, a coupling pole,a brake beam, connections between the brake beam and draft device, across member thereon, means for engaging the cross member to'hold thebrake beam in ofl position when the vehicle is backed, and a pinlnounted in the coupling pole in front of the cross member to render thelatter inoperative.

l2. In combination, a draft device including a tongue, a coupling pole,a brake beam, connections between the brake beam and draft device, across member thereon, al

frame on the coupling pole, levers supported on the frame forengagingthe cross member to hold the brake beam in off position when thevehicle is backed, and a pin adapted to be mounted in said frame infront of the cross member to render the latter inoperative.

123. In combination, a draft device, a couplingl pole, a brake beam, amechanism connecting the brake beam and draft device, said mechanismcomprising connectingl members, a frame on the coupling pole, a crossbar disposed transversely of the frame, vertical levers arranged onopposite sideson the frame and engaging the rear of the cross bar, andmeans carried by the draft device for engaging the free ends of saidlevers.

Il. In combination, a draft device, a brake beam, operating connectionsbetween the two for holding the brake beam in olf position, a sp1-ingarranged to hold the brake beam in set position, an adjustable blockattached to the spring, a screw for actuating the block, a levercarrying the block and screw which is adapted Ato render the springinoperative, and means for supporting the lever.

l5. In combination, a draft device, a brake beam, operating connectionsbetween the two for holding the brake beam in off position, a springarranged to hold the brake beam in set position, an adjustable means forvarying the tension of the spring, a lever supporting said means whichis adapted to relieve the tension of the spring to permit of the latterbeing adjusted by said means and to render the spring inoperative, andmeans for supporting the lever.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own, we have heretoaffixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses JOI-IN T.VANNESS. HARRY R. OBRIAN. Witnesses I. J. Firmin, Bnlc'r loUnNm.

